Hospital president Jeff Lindsay said 18 patients were possibly exposed to Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease following an operation that was performed on Jan. 18.

There's no known cure for CJD, which can change proteins in the brain and lead to death. It could take years if not decades for symptoms such as dementia to show up.

Dr. Jim Lederer, Novant vice president for clinical development, said the operation was performed on a patient that was suspected to have sporadic CJD. Novant received the positive test results on Thursday.

WHEN A PATIENT UNDERWENT SURGERY AND SHOWED SYMPTOMS OF A VERY RARE DISEASE CALLED SPORADIC CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE. SYMPTOMS LOOK SIMILAR TO DEMENTIA OR A STROKE. THEY HAD TO SEND OUT FOR TEST RESULTS AND DIDN'T GET THEM BACK UNTIL WEEKS LATER. MEANWHILE 18 OTHER NEUROSURGICAL PATIENTS COULD HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO THE DISEASE THEY AND THEIR FAMILIES HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED. DOCTORS SAY THE RISK OF TRANSMISSION IS EXTREMELY LOW IN FACT THE CDC'S LAST REPORTED CASE OF TRANSMISSION THROUGH SURGERY WAS 1976 BUT THEY'RE APOLOGIZING FOR THIS SCARY SITUATION AS IT'S A VERY COMPLEX DISEASE THAT IS OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR OTHER DISEASES AND THAT MAY NOT MANIFEST ITSELF UNTIL MANY YEARS LATER AND THERE IS NO KNOWN CURE. "THE PATIENT HAD SPORADIC CJD. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE BECAUSE SOMETIMES CJD IS INCORRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH MAD COW DISEASE. THIS IS DIFFERENT, THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS MAD COW DISEASE." NOW THEY ARE PUTTING IN THE SURGICAL EQUIPMENT TO ENHANCE TO STERILIZATION AND HAVE MADE A PROCESS CHANGE WITH HIGHER TEMPERATURES AND LONGER STERILIZATION TIMES. VERONICA WHITE, WXII 12 NEWS.